Varig to Double Fleet Size, Change Name

Brazilian airline Varig, which recently escaped bankruptcy, will buy 16 planes as soon as it is allowed to resume operations and will change its name to Nordeste, a senior executive said on Thursday.

Joao Luiz Bernes de Souza, chief executive of the VarigLog air cargo business that bought Varig in July for $24 million, said Varig’s fleet would jump from 15 planes to 31 once it gets a green light from authorities.

Another company executive had said in August that Varig should expand its fleet to 45 aircraft by the end of 2006. The Brazilian carrier was once Latin America’s largest air company, but fell to the brink of bankruptcy earlier this year, burdened by massive debts and unable to pay for fuel or airport fees.

A decade ago, it had nearly half of Brazil’s aviation market but it has since lost out to more cost-efficient rivals such as TAM and GOL.